My system uses very cheap mirrors (could be cardboard and aluminum foil). They are much cheaper than PV cell and can be homemade instead of bought and shipped from large corporations. The steam engine can run whenever the sun is out. With a very cheap solar heat storage tank power can be created several hours after sun set. The steam loop is a closed system that recondenses steam. It can run off a liter or less of water if needed. The steam while producing power can be condensed to drinking water, it can turn salt water into drinking water.

Solar thermal power is much more efficient that PV. There are many large solar power plants trough like mine and tower.

You can buy PV cells and I will design and build my own solar thermal power systems.

I believe there are many villages out there that could benefit from drinking water, solar cooking, water pumping to grow food in the dry season and electricity.

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There are 3,000 pictures (from north america more to come) and a diary of our trip on our facebook page at the link below.

I started this trip on a KLR650. I am continuing the same adventure trip but now i have moved on to a homemade solar powered car.

This is the first solar thermal car to be built in the world. There are no sites like this one for solar car trips. If you are not interested please just stop reading this thread. From the start of the trip i was traveling to poor countries to try and help them build things to improve their living situation. Just because I sold my bike does not mean I am not on the same trip. The solar car will be able
To creat power for a small village. Pump water to grow food, create drinking water, used to cook food. I could not tow a 6ft by 24ft trailer with mirror behind my klr650.

__________________
There are 3,000 pictures (from north america more to come) and a diary of our trip on our facebook page at the link below.

I started this trip on a KLR650. I am continuing the same adventure trip but now i have moved on to a homemade solar powered car.

This is the first solar thermal car to be built in the world. There are no sites like this one for solar car trips. If you are not interested please just stop reading this thread. From the start of the trip i was traveling to poor countries to try and help them build things to improve their living situation. Just because I sold my bike does not mean I am not on the same trip. The solar car will be able
To creat power for a small village. Pump water to grow food, create drinking water, used to cook food. I could not tow a 6ft by 24ft trailer with mirror behind my klr650.

that's great until you have to jump though hoops for licensing requirements each time you cross a border or meet a cop. You'd have better luck on the bicycle towing a mirror.

"...I just got an email from Bob McElroy, builder of the Solar Thermal Car, an article about which appeared in The Steam Automobile in the early 1980s. This car had a large "heat battery", consisting of a heavily-insulated tank filled with an unpressurized liquid heat-storage medium, inside of which were coils of steel tubing for steam generation. The high-temperature heat-storage medium was heated by a liquid-fuel burner, but could have been heated by a solar collector, for a direct-solar, zero-emissions car. Then, the car pumped water through the steel tubing inside the hot "Thermal Liquid", generating steam, which was throttled to a 4x5 Stanley engine (the most suitable running engine then available) to drive the car. Yep, it ran!..."

So the 15 plus year motorcycle trip turned into less than a year going to a bicycle then into a car.
Good for you for teaching ,you will find that people on third world countries while hard working, can be a little lazy when it comes to helping themselves or learning about new technology, as simple as it may indeed be.
I was a dirt contractor for many years, stayed in a village in the philippines which suffered from flooding during the typhoon season, I sat down with them and showed them how to help minimize the flooding all by hand, in the end I was asked "Cant you do it for us" Now I just send school supplies
Keep in mind that no matter how noble your vision is of a simple future, money is a drivinig force, hoover sold vaccum cleaners to many people without power and no Idea when they woud be getting it, back then a vaccum was a very, very pricy item.
Third world countries also take corruption to a whole new level, Im not saying do not pursue your dream, but I am saying that if someone making money sees you as a threat to his well being you may just end up looking down the barrel of a firearm, just be aware, in that event cooperate and keep your personal opinions to yourself, they dont give damn, have very little regard for human life just an FYI.

I am somewhat interested in what you are doinig as I amalways building strange things as well, but in the end and I am new here, but this is a motorcycle forum andI honestly only have a passing interest/respect for people traveling via other forms.

I often revisit this thread purely by accident (KLR 2 up RTW..awesome) then I remember when I click on it...oh yeah...this one...steam engine hippy guy and saving the world....I get enough gap year philosophy from my kids thanks....I usually click away.

Quote:

Originally Posted by WhicheverAnyWayCan

It is argued that Perpetual Motion would or wouldn't work as some scoff at the theory while some claim it work.

That comment however requires an albeit short response.

Hmm....some scoff....if what you mean is "dis-proven by over a hundred of years of evidence based experimentation based on the laws of Thermodynamics"...then put me in the scoffer camp.

Video 7 of building a solar thermal powered car. In this video I test a sun tracking motor on my small model. I will use this setup to test sun tracking for the full scaled 6 by 24 ft mirror on the solar thermal powered car.

In this video I drive the solar powered model in both directions with the motor drive circuit. I also run the full scale drive motor and test the control signal amperage and find the its low enough to be controller by the Arduino.